


The mask

by tezufujilove



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 01:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2292671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tezufujilove/pseuds/tezufujilove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU fic. Long long time ago, there was a country which was ruled by a cruel and greedy King. And there was an unknown hero who always wore the mask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The mask

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired from “Bridal mask”, a meaningful and great Korean drama.

Long long time ago, there was a country which was ruled by a cruel and greedy King. He and his court had a luxurious life in a huge and splendid palace while most of his people lived in poverty. Not only having to work hard to satisfy the King’s need, they also were blocked by harsh rules and could not thrive. Discontent and hatred began to emerged and became more and more strong day by day until one day, the insurgent army was established. Despite being suppressed fiercely by the royal army, it continued to develop and after three years became a redoubtable power facing up to the King. 

===

The North - Captital - The center market.

The middle-aged man fell on the ground. His hands were covering his head and his body curled up as some soldiers beat him cruelly. Blood began to flow from his injuries but that didn’t make them stop. There were many people around them watching with fear, worry and even anger but no one dared to do anything.

Not far from there, behind an old wall, three man were hiding. One with hazel eyes, messy hair and stern face; one with fierce eyes and a green bandana wrapped around his head and the last was a tall young men with broad shoulders, black hair and purple eyes. They were fighters from the insurgent army: Tezuka Kunimitsu, Kaido Kaoru and Momoshiro Takeshi. Three men were secretly eyeing the sight in front of them until Momoshiro burst out angrily:

“Enough! I can’t stand it anymore.” He intended to step out of their sanctuary but a strong hand stop him before he could move.

“What are you doing, idiot?”, Kaido hissed at him, “Remember our mission. We are here to spy, not to fight.”

The other opened his mouth to protest but being cut off by a firm voice “Kaido right, Momo.”- Tezuka who was the leader reprimand his inferior-“Besides, you couldn’t save that man. You are not a rival of that person. None of us is.”, he emphasized those last words.

That person. Momo stopped his action and then three pair of eyes couldn’t help but focus on one lone figure standing nearby. Despite his slender body and seemingly innocent aura, nobody dared to stay close to him. The stoic man narrowed his eyes, his hand clenched around his sword.

That person. The best fighter of royal army. A demon with angelic face, well-known as “Bloody Angel”.

Fuji Suysuke.

===

When Fuji Suysuke first joined the army, no one paid attention to him. Small body, feminine features, beautiful face, he looked more like a girl than a fighter. There was even a rumor that he had slept with some senior officers to be accepted as a soldier. But only a few month later, he had managed to make people shut their mouth. Fuji Suysuke was not a normal soldier. He was a fighting genius who was born to fight.

Six months after joining the army, Fuji Suysuke had become famous for his sword skill. He then made an unexpected decision: asked his captain for three months leave and when his request was accepted, Fuji just stayed in his house and spent the whole time perfect his skill. When he finally came back, people noticed nothing change at the slender man, except for his eyes now always closed. He merely smiled when someone asked about it: “Sword should be felt by heart, not by eyes.” Despite Fuji’s genius, no one took those words seriously. Until that day...

Tezuka could still remember that day clearly. It was a peaceful night, almost two years ago, he and other captains of the insurgent army were discussing some practice plans for their soldiers when one of his men stormed in the room, his voice shook with disbelief and a bit panic: “Sir, Echizen-san...was killed!”

There was a moment of silence followed, everybody just stared at this man and then at each other, too shocked to react. Echizen Nanjirou was a patrician who had had his name on the blacklist of the Court for a long time because of his sympathy for poor people, his opposition to the King and support to the insurgent army. Although the King always wanted to kill him, he was still safe and sound due to a simple reason: Echizen Nanjirou was a legendary sword. No one could defeat him, even the best fighter of royal army. So up until now, he had been the idol of many young people in the country, a symbol of freedom and justice. But now, they were heard that he had been killed? It was impossible!

Tezuka was the first to recover: “When?”

“Not long ago. Our man reported that he was killed in a sword play, one stab to the heart. The royal army burned his house after that.”

“It can’t be.”, Shiraishi-one of the captains spoke, “Echizen-san is undefeated. It must be a mistake.”

“I’m sorry but one of our spies was on the scene at that time. He affirmed that this is the truth.”

“Was he trapped?”

“...No, sir. I know it is unbelievable but our man said that it was an one on one battle. And a fair one.”

A deathly silence one again hung over the room. Everybody seemed to be deep in thought. Who was the one that be able to destroy such a legend? And from when had the royal army had a incredible fighter like this without their notice? With that person, the royal army would definitely be more dangerous and aggressive. Although they all were curious about him (or maybe her?), they also feel a bit afraid of hearing the answer. It’s just liked officially acknowledge a very tough rival.

“What about his son?”, Oishi-Tezuka right-hand man suddenly asked, his mother hen instinct was finally beyond his curiosity. Echizen Ryoma, Echizen-san’s only son, he had seen this boy a few times before. ‘Poor this boy, he was just fourteen.’ he mused.

“According to our source, he was chased by the royal army and when he fought against them, their leader-the same person who killed his father sent him falling off the cliff by a hard kick. They were seeking him now.”

“Where is that cliff?”

“In the west, about 2 miles from our power base. It seems that Echizen-kun intended to go to us.”

Tezuka stood up: “We had to find him before them. Darkness is our advantage and we are familiar with this place. Tell people to gather. We will choose some men for this rescue mission.”

The others nodded and rose to their feet. Before they all left the room, Tezuka turned around and asked one last question-the question people had wanted to but also dreaded to ask: “Who murdered Echizen-san?”

The man replied, fear evidently in his voice: “Fighting genius of the royal army, Fuji Suysuke.”

From that day, no one in the whole country didn’t know Fuji Suysuke. But people never called him by his name anymore. Instead, he was called by the fearful nickname “Bloody Angel”.

===

“Stop.”, the word was said in a very soft voice but those soldiers immediately obeyed. The slender man idly stepped forward and looked down at the man lying on the ground with his close eyes. He smiled sarcastically: “I think it’s enough for this man to know how to behave. No need for killing him. We need him to work for us. The King will be disappointed if the amount of tax decreases.”

Those soldiers burst out laughing at the last sentence. The middle-aged man threw up some blood and then glared at the younger man with hatred visible in his eyes: “You will be punished soon. Wind Soul will find you and send you to hell.”

“Oh”, the slender man chuckled amusingly, “I’m really looking forward to it.” He bent down to whisper in the other’s ear with an evil voice, making the man shiver evidently: “Can’t wait to do to him what they’ve done to you.”

Straightened himself up, the slender man commanded coldly “Move.” before walking away, followed by his soldiers.

===

“Buchou, we’ve got a message from Wind Soul.”, Momo exclaimed the moment he stepped inside Tezuka’s room.

“Give it to me.”, Tezuka reached out to receive the paper from Momo’s hand. Spreaded it on his table, the stoic man then turned to look at the bespectacled man standing behind him: “Inui, is this the map of the royal main armory?”

Inui stepped forward to examine the paper more carefully: “It was indeed the map of the royal main armory, though we can’t sure about its accuracy. But since it was given to us by Wind Soul, the possibility of it being the real map is 90%. Wind Soul has never let us down.”

“Ah.” Tezuka agreed. It’s quite weird, he mused and smiled inwardly, that they could trust this much in a person they knew nothing about.

After Echizen Nanjirou’s death, darkness covered the whole country, people’s spirit became shaky and the court might have its entire win if not for the unyielding struggle of the insurgent army. Then Wind Soul appeared, quickly became the most dangerous and wanted rival of the royal army as well as the new symbol of justice in the country. He punished corrupt officials, saved people who were imprisoned or sentenced to death due to their protest against the court, damaged royal military bases and gave the royal army so much trouble. No one knew who he was since he always wore a mask so people began to call him “Wind Soul” because of his sudden appearance and disappearance, so quick and light, just like the wind.

Unknown to most of people and even the royal army, Wind Soul had cooperated with the insurgent army for a long time. At first, they had received messages from him which surprisingly contain a lot of important information about the court and the royal army. It was a great help for them to deal with the enemy as well as make plans for their main aim- a general uprising in the whole country. Then they began to leave the signs at the place where Wind Soul usually put his message whenever they needed some certain information and he had never failed to get it for them. The odd relationship between the insurgent army and Wind Soul became more and more strong and though Wind Soul had never meet them officially (He left right after confirming that Tezuka’s team had taken the message and his men could merely catch his shadow. It was a mystery why Wind Soul only chose Tezuka’s team to give the message but they assumed it had something to do with Tezuka’s fame-he was the best fighter of the insurgent army after all.), the insurgent army always considered him as its member and they had a lot of trust in him.

“Nya, I still can’t understand how Wind Soul could get such confidential information for us. The main armory is guarded extremely tight, even we are unable to intrude into it.”, Eiji loud voice brought Tezuka from his reverie.

“Eiji-senpai, he is Wind Soul! With his speed and ability, he can intrude into anywhere. Where do you think he get his name from?”, Momo rolled his eyes.

Before Eiji could rely anything, Horio stormed into the room, his face was pale as he stuttered in panic: “Bu..buchou..Ryoma..we..we can’t find him anywhere.”

Tezuka immediately stood up. Today was the day two years ago that Echizen-san was killed. Last year, they had to keep a keen eye on Ryoma in case of his revenge but lately his team had been busy preparing for a big plan so there was only Horio taking care of Ryoma. And now the boy was missing. Even an idiot could guess what he was going to do.

“Go now. We have to find him before he does anything stupidly. Horio, calls Tachibana’s team for assistance. We may have a tough fight.”, Tezuka quickly but calmly gave his order.

“Hai.”, everyone stood up as well and was ready to go but the moment they came out of the room, bad new arrived.

“Tezuka, Ryoma was arrested.”, Tachibana exclaimed while walking toward them, serious expression in his face. When he finally stood in front of Tezuka, Tachibana said with an angry and a bit anxious tone: “He may be sentenced to death.”

===

Tezuka carefully eyed the building up and down. The walls were made of hard stone and there were three high entanglements surrounded, one wide moat outside the last fence. Not to mention a large number of soldiers that guarded here. Dragon Trap really fitted its title as the most solid prison in the country. His hazel eyes narrowed determinedly. To the hell with its fame, they would break into it tonight. Though it would be better if they had its map. He made a mental note to ask Wind Soul for it. If he could get the main armory’s map for them then Dragon Trap’s map might not be a big deal.

Lightly climb down from his observation point on an ancient tree, Tezuka quickly returned to where his team were hiding. Time to make plan.

***

The sky was as black as coal, even the stars couldn’t be seen. The only light in the darkness was from torches on the prison’s walls. Tezuka gestured to his team to move forward slowly. Time to change the guard was coming and at that moment those soldiers would be careless the most. They couldn’t waste that opportunity. Besides the royal army didn’t know that Ryoma was with the insurgent army now so their enemy would not suppose that anyone would come for rescue, which would be another advantage for his team.

Tezuka calmed his breath as he waited for the moment to go into action. According to their plan, he and Eiji would secretly break into the prison since their movements were the quickest and most clever of the team while the other attacked the enemy to create a diversion. After rescuing successfully, they would retreat quickly into the forest where they were hiding now and returned to the power base. Hope that prison’s guards would fall into this trap.

Ten seconds left. Tezuka raised his hand, ready to start their mission. But before he could do anything, those guards at the gate and around the prison began to get into a flurry. There were yells, sounds of running steps up and down stone stairways and then the sounds of weapons collision and the screams in pain. A lone figure totally in black and carrying someone pick-a-back appeared in the rooftop of the prison, torchlight illuminated his masked face and the sharp sword in his right hand. Tezuka heard his teamate gasped as he himself held his breath. Wind Soul!

The mysterious man laid the person on his back down on the ground, then took out the bow hanging around his chest and withdrew an arrow from the brown leather pouch which was tied with a long rope. With a smooth action, he sent out the arrow and Tezuka heard a thud sound as it hit a big tree nearby. Carried the other on his back one again, Wind Soul began to slide along the rope, using his bow as a hook. As he passed by them, Tezuka recognized the person rescued.

“Ryoma!”, Momo burst out and Tezuka immediately moved in the direction of Wind Soul while threw his order back over his shoulder: “Eiji, come with me. We’ll catch him. The other, prevent the enemy.”

The red head instantly followed his captain while the rest of the team began to create a diversion.

===

Despite carrying another person, Wind Soul still caused Tezuka difficulty in following him. The mysterious man seemed to know this area very well as he often turned suddenly and disappeared behind some bushes or big trees. Tezuka thought that was a great way to get rid of chasers and he might have appreciated it if he hadn’t been one. Though the other’s movement was so unpredictable, Tezuka finally realized that he was heading to the insurgent army’s power base. ‘If that case, I know how to catch him.’, the stoic man mused as he stopped following his target and took a shortcut to his power base. There was a place Wind Soul would have to go through if he wanted to go to their place and since the other was making a detour to avoid followers, Tezuka might arrive at that place first if he was quick enough.

Ten minutes later, the stoic man reached the destination and he instantly climbed a tree to get a good observation. Soon, he spotted a black figure coming toward to his place and Tezuka jumped down making the other stopped in his track, head bowed slightly and lifted his sword up in a defensive position.

“Calm down.”, Tezuka said as he raised both his hand, “I’m not your enemy. I’m Tezuka Kunimitsu from the insurgent army.”

As his name was spoken, the mysterious man looked up straight to his face and Tezuka’s heart skipped a beat. Never in his life had he seen such beautiful eyes before. So blue, so deep, just like the sea-Tezuka mused as he let himself slowly drown into them. For a moment, the world seemed slow to a stop.

“Buchou.”, a weak groan made the stoic man snapped out of his trance. Tezuka coughed slightly to cover the awkward fact that he had been stared at Wind Soul. Ryoma whispered something to the masked man then the other put the boy off his back and helped him to get on his feet. Tezuka felt anger surged up within him as he observed Ryoma’s body. The boy had been beaten quite badly.

The masked man gestured to him to come closer and then carefully handed over the boy to him. Before he could turn to leave, Tezuka grabbed his arm “Wait.”

The blue-eyed man looked at him questioningly and Tezuka swallowed, trying to ignore the racing heart inside his chest as the warmth from their contacted seeped through his body “We are going to rob the royal main armory. It is a very important mission in order to prepare for the upcoming general uprising. We will be so grateful to have your help so can you?”, he looked hopefully into those cerulean eyes.

The masked man nodded firmly and Tezuka suppressed a sign of relief “Thank you. Can I meet you tomorrow to explain our plan? The place where you usually leave your message?”

He nodded again, still didn’t say anything. Tezuka then hesitantly released his arm “Well, see you tomorrow. Take care.” The other immediately went away and soon the stoic man could only see his blur shadow.

“I saw him fight. He’s so strong, buchou”, Ryoma suddenly said.

“Wind Soul?”

“Who else?”

“I thought you were saying about that person.”, Tezuka replied as he glanced at the boy.

There was a moment of silence and then a bitter smile appeared on his face: “Yes. He is too. Even Wind Soul can’t defeat that demon. How unbelievable!”

That’s right, Tezuka thought as he clenched his fists. Even Wind Soul was defeated. One night, he had come to that person, fought against him in the moonlight and then get injured. He even barely escaped since many royal soldiers were on the scene at that time. Some normal people had witnessed that battle too and they couldn’t help but feel hopeless and frustrated. But after that incident, Wind Soul still continued to trouble the royal army, continued to fight for justice and slowly hope was build once again that someday he would be able to destroy the royal army’s legend. Though Wind Soul had never appeared again at the same place with Bloody Angel from then on. That was the only thing the royal army could brag about among many things related to the masked man.

The stoic man narrowed his eyes. To assure the mission’s success, they would have to eliminate Fuji Suysuke first.

===

The moon was high in the sky, illuminated everything in its glow. Standing beside the window, Tezuka closed his eyes, allowed the breeze to play with his messy brown hair.

Breeze. Wind. Wind Soul.

Tezuka’s mind wandered back to their meeting not long ago. He had been waiting all day at their setting place (since he didn’t know when the other might come), feeling unnecessarily anxious and longing for seeing the masked man again, for being able to look into those deep blue eyes. It was the first time he had ever had those emotions so he didn’t really understand why and definitely didn’t know what to do with them either. He scolded himself for letting his guard down, making him stuck in uncertain and weird feeling but he couldn’t help smiling slightly when he saw Wind Soul approaching him.

Just like last night, Wind Soul didn’t say anything and merely nodded as a sign that he understood what Tezuka was explaining. The stoic man highly suspected that the other was dumb, otherwise he must really hate talking.

His thought was cut off as Oishi called him: “Tezuka, Ryuzaki-san wants to meet you.” The stoic man nodded and immediately headed toward their mastermind’s room.

“Ryuzaki-san.”, Tezuka greeted and bowed to the midde-aged woman. The other nodded and gestured to him to sit down.

“Tezuka, I have read you plan about robbing the enemy’s main armory. You have recommended us to eliminate Bloody Angel first. Is it necessary? You know very well what kind of fighter he is.”

“Yes, it is. Sooner or later we will have to face him so I think it will be better if we eliminate him now before the royal army becomes even more highly beware of us, which they definitely do if we successfully rob and destroy their main armory. Besides, it will assure this mission’s success since Wind Soul will join us this time. You know Bloody Angel is the only one can make him flinch.” Tezuka finished his long explaination.

Ryuzaki seemed to be deep in thought before she finally spoke: “I understand. Let’s do like what you’ve said. But do you have any plan?”

“Hai. My team is planning an ambush. But we will need participation of some other captains. We need best fighters for this battle.”

“Who do you require then?”

“Yukimura, Sanada, Shiraishi and Tachibana.”, Tezuka replied firmly. He knew very well he was putting most representative soldiers of the insurgent army in danger. Their rival this time was inhuman. This would be a big gamble, all or nothing.

“I see.”, the woman nodded thoughtfully, “I will recall Yukimura and Sanada from the South tomorrow. Report to me when you finish your plan.” She waved her hand as sign of dismissal: “You can leave now.”

“Hai. Thank you Ryuzaki-san.”, Tezuka bowed low and then left.

===

The sound of horse’s hoof hit the ground became more and more clearly and Tezuka felt his heart began to race. Their prey was coming. From his position, the stoic man couldn’t see where his companions were hiding but he knew they all were ready.

They had decided to make the ambush at this forest’s edge after Inui found out that Fuji Suysuke had gone to this place everyday lately. And he always came alone. This was a perfect chance for them since the forest and the small road which led to it were deserted most of the time.

As the royal soldier was approaching, a cord suddenly was stretched across the road and Tezuka heard a loud painful whinny as the horse’s feet hooked on it and the poor animal fell onto the ground. Its master, however, landed steadily with an elegant jump. As soon as he was on the ground, Fuji immediately was attacked from many directions as Tezuka’s companions quickly encircle him. Despite being ambushed and forced to fight in an unequal battle, Fuji’s expression didn’t change even a bit as he skilfully counteract his enemy’s strokes and began to attack back. The sword became more and more fierce and though their complement advantage couldn’t help them to put an end to their rival’s life, the insurgent soldiers managed to force Fuji to retreat close to where Tezuka was hiding. That was their plan. If they couldn’t kill him, they would trap him at an convenient position and attract his attention for Teuka to make a deathblow.

Tezuka held his breath. He was close, so close and now his back was in his sword range. Perfect distance.

The stoic man jumped out from the bush he was hiding, his sword pointed at the slender man. Fuji beat back all of his rivals with a powerful stroke and quickly turned around but he wasn’t quick enough. Tezuka’s sword was right in front of his chest and within seconds it would stab his heart. His close eyes snapped open.

So blue, so deep, just like the sea.

Tezuka’s stroke inclined to the left and instead of Fuji’s heart, it thrust into the right side of his chest. Fuji groaned painfully but he quickly stepped back and passed the stoic man to run away and disappeared into the forest.

“What’ve you done buchou? He was unguarded right in front of you and you missed him! How could you?”, Ryoma yelled in anger and frustration.

“Ryoma!”, Tachibana reprimanded the boy but there was also disappointment in his face.

Tezuka didn’t say anything, he just stared blankly at the direction of Fuji’s escape path, his brows were knitted deeply.

“Tezuka, what’s wrong?”, Yukimura’s gentle voice called him from behind.

“...Nothing.” It couldn’t be. He must have hallucinated, a damn stupid hallucination that made him lose his only chance to kill that demon and waste his companions’ effort. That’s all what had happened. Yes, it had to be that.

===

It was very late at night but Tezuka still couldn’t sleep. Who could then if they were in his position? He had reported to his commanders about the mission and required to be penalized for his mistake but they had refused him. They said it was not a failing mission since Bloody Angel had been injured and therefore couldn’t cause any trouble for their next plan. And since there were only two more days left before they attacked the royal main armory, better to focus on preparation. Tezuka had bowed low, promised to do his best but he couldn’t get rid of the thought that he had disappointed everyone, especially Ryoma. The boy was still sulking and he had been avoiding Tezuka after that incident. The stoic man signed, Ryoma had every right to be angry with him, he had let his guard down after all.

“Can’t sleep?”, a soft voice spoke and Tezuka turned around to see Yukimura approaching him. “Ah.”, he replied shortly.

The blue haired man chuckled: “Still a man of few words.” His smile then disappeared and he looked at Tezuka with serious expression in his face: “You know Tezuka, Fuji Suysuke wasn’t called Bloody Angel for nothing.”

Tezuka opened his mouth to apologize but Yukimura immediately cut off him as he shooked his head: “I’m not here to blame you Tezuka. In fact, I have something to tell you.”

Tezuka nodded as understanding and Yukimura continued: “Fuji was famous for his cold and cruel even to his men. But this afternoon..”, he paused for some seconds before spoke again: “This afternoon, when he fought against us he seemed like..holding back. Though he attacked us strongly, he stopped right when we stepped backward to defend, didn’t press futher. He even avoided dead points in our body. To be honest, Fuji Suysuke had chances to kill at least one of us but he didn’t. It’s so strange, just like..just like he was trying to protect us.”

Tezuka’s heart beat furiously inside his chest as he listened to Yukimura’s words and he had to inhale deeply to calm himself. The image of those deep blue eyes once again flashed in his mind and his hand shook slightly at the possibility. But it couldn’t be, right? They had fought against each other, how could they be the same person?

“Tezuka, do you know anything?”, Yukimura asked as he eyed his friend carefully.

“...No.”

===

Meanwhile, at the royal palace.

“My Lord, we have a bad new. Fuji-sama was ambushed this afternoon and got injured.”

“What? Is his wound serious?”

“I’m sorry, my Lord but yes, he was stabbed hard in his chest. It couldn’t help, his rivals had complement advantage and he was trapped too.”

“What is he now?”

“He is recovering, my Lord, but he required a five-day rest.”

“Tell him to take a week. We can’t have our best fighter in bad shape.”

“Yes, my Lord. And he also told us to tighten security. He was afraid that you and some important officials would be the next target.”

“How thoughtful he was. Appoint more soldiers to the palace and to protect our officials.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

===

Two days later, the royal main armory.

The map Wind Soul gave them became very useful as they secretly broke into the building, successfully avoided the enemy’s notice. It’s even more advantageous for them since the number of soldiers guarded here had been decreased to tighten security at the royal palace. It seemed the King had thought that he might be the next target after Fuji Suysuke was ambushed - an unexpected but great result. They had encountered some soldiers but Wind Soul skilfully shut them up before they could even open their mouth. And now, they reached their destination, the weapon storage. Quickly, they opened the window and began to transfer each box full of weapon to their companions waiting outside. Those boxes would be taken to the forest and loaded on carts before being transported to the insurgent army’s power base.

As the last box was transfered, Tezuka took a torch on the wall outside the room and threw it to wooden door. The fire blazed up furiously and they quickly jumped out the window to escape. Soon, they heard yells, footsteps then running steps and alarm.

“Hurry.”, Tezuka ordered and they ran as fast as possible to the forest. Their horses were waiting for them here. As soon as they were on them, they began to gallop but they didn’t go far as they heard the sounds of enemys from behind. Tezuka narrowed his eyes. They were discovered faster than he had thought. The last cart was running not far in front of them, he couldn’t let the royal army catch it.

Wind Soul suddenly slowed down and when Tezuka glanced backward him, the masked man gestured with his hand for him to go ahead. The stoic man immediately knew what the other was going to do and he quickly ordered his team: “Keep going. Protect the cart. I and Wind Soul will prevent chasers.”

“Hai.”, they replied in chorus and Tezuka turned back. As he approached Wind Soul, the other looked at him questioningly and Tezuka instantly explained: “I will stay with you. We need to handle those chasers before reinforcements come. Twos will be quicker.”

Just when he finished his words, the enemy came and the battle began. The enemy had complement advantage and royal soldiers were well trained so this was really a tough fight for them though it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle. As time passed, the troops surrounded them became fewer and fewer and Tezuka could sometimes stole a glance at his partner. He had never seen Wind Soul fight before so he couldn’t help being curious. And he had to admit that the other was the second best fighter he had ever met (The best one of course was Fuji Suysuke. Tezuka’s breath hitched as he remembered those deep blue eyes but quickly shook his head to clean his mind.) Wind Soul was almost as good as that person. Almost. Though his stroke was very fast and accurate, his movement was so light, Tezuka couldn’t help but have a weird feeling that something was wrong.

As the last soldiers was killed, they quickly continued their escape since reinforcements could come anytime and they had prevented the enemy long enough for their companions to return to the power base safely. But after a while, Tezuka noticed his partner (whose horse was fast galloping behind him) began to slow down and then stopped. Thinking that the other wanted to seperate, Tezuka turned around to say something but what he saw made his heart stop beating for a moment.

Wind Soul was laying motionless on his horse.

Quickly approached the other, worry swept through Tezuka when he realized the masked man had been unconscious. He carefully took him into his arms and laid him on the ground just to see blood was seeping through his clothes. Tezuka felt panic. When did the man get injured that he didn’t notice?

The stoic man stripped the other’s tunic and his eyes widened when he saw a deep wound on the right side of his chest. It wasn’t new since it had been treated but not old either. The masked man might have got it within the last three days. And blood was flowing from it,  definitely due to too strong action. How could the other still fight so hard in their past battle was mysterious to Tezuka but he now knew why he had felt like something was wrong.

Then something clicked in his mind. Same eyes. Same injury. Too coincident!

With shaking hand, Tezuka slowly reached to the mask in the injured man’s face. When it was removed, the first time in his life, Tezuka felt the urge to scream in agony.

Laying unconsciously in Tezuka’s arms like a sleeping angel with his face so pale but still breathtakingly beautiful was the person people always talked about with fear, hatred and disgust: Fuji Suysuke.

Fighting genius of the royal army. A demon with angelic face. Bloody Angel.

...And Wind Soul.

===

Fuji woke up with a whimper. Somehow, the pain inside his chest had lessened but it still made him want to groan in suffering. The night breeze caressed his cheek and Fuji couldn’t help but smile. It’s really more comfortable without his mask.

..Wait. His mask?

Fuji immediately touched his face to confirm the fact that his mask had been removed. Before he could sit up to find out what had happened, a hand stopped him: “Don’t move. Your wound may bleed again.”. Fuji looked up and his blue eyes met Tezuka’s brown ones which were full with concern and something he couldn’t fathom.

“Are you feeling better?”, Tezuka asked him softly. Fuji just nodded, he didn’t know what to say. He had always thought that if anyone could discover his true condition, they must be from the royal army. You didn’t need to say anything to your enemies.

Tezuka signed in relief: “Good. I had found some medicinal plants to stop the bleeding and heal the wound but I wasn’t so sure about their uses.”

“...Thank you”, Fuji said sincerely. He then looked at the dark sky: “How long have I been unconscious?”

“Three hours.”

Fuji’s eyes widened. It was a long time. The court sure had been reported about the past incident. What if they wanted to know his opinion and send someone to meet him. Although he was taking a rest, he still had to be ready for any possibility.

Tezuka stopped him again as he tried to sat up: “What are you doing?You need to rest.”

“I have to go. I can’t let them suspect me.”, Fuji gently pushed Tezuka’s hand away. He bit back a groan as he stood up, using his sword for support. The slender man stood still for a brief moment to cease his dizziness before he began to walked away.

Just when he was about to get on his horse, strong arms wrapped around his waist and he was pulled into a tight but gentle hug. Fuji’s body stiffened but he soon relaxed in the other’s warmth. He had been cold for too long.

“Be safe.”, Tezuka whispered as he pulled away.

Fuji didn’t say anything. He got on his horse and galloped, never once looked back. From the first day he became Wind Soul, his safety had been the only thing he couldn’t promise.

***

Tezuka looked at the blue-eyed man’s retreating back. Though he knew he shouldn’t and couldn’t stop him, his heart still clenched painfully as the stoic man saw Fuji going to the most dangerous place for him. Tezuka tightened his hold on his sword. Someday, when the general uprising was successful and the court was overthrew, when Fuji could put off his mask and live with his true condition. Someday, when Tezuka could look straight into those blue eyes without any hesitancy, when he could be able to hold the slender man for so long and never let go. Yes, Tezuka silently swore, when that day came he would protect Fuji forever, from anyone, anything.

===

Six months later.

The general uprising was carrying out in the whole country. From cities to villages, with the leading of the insurgent army, people fought against the royal army, destroyed bastions, took possession of armories and commissaries, overthrew the government. In some big city, it was more difficult since the number of royal soldiers here was larger and they resisted harder but the final win still belonged to the insurgent army.

In the capital where the battle was the fiercest, after five days, the insurgent army managed to occupy most of important zones and forced the royal army to withdraw into the palace. The enemy held their ground tightly but the harder they defended the more determined the insurgent army became. In the evening of the sixth day, best fighters with Wind Soul as a pioneer broke through the enemy’s defense, finally put an end to the rule of the King.

The moment that everything was over was the time for something being revealed.

***

“No way!”

“Impossible!”

“It can’t be!”

Sounds of shock and disbelief echoed in the huge room. Everyone was staring hard at the person who had just removed his mask. One minute ago, he was still their hero but now, they didn’t know anymore.

“You can’t be Wind Soul. You are the one who killed my father!”, Ryoma hissed as he plunged himself toward his enemy but Oishi managed to grab his arm: “Ryoma, we should let him explain first.”

“I don’t want to hear anything.”, Ryoma yelled in anger while struggling to get rid of his senpai’s grip.

“I know!”, Momo exclaimed and pointed an accusing finger to Fuji, “He knew the court would be overthrew so he disguised himself as Wind Soul to keep him from being punished. He thought that we would trust him and overlook everthing!”

Whispers began to emerge as people considered Momo’s ideal. “Momo-chan.”, Yukimura suddenly asked, “If you are right then where the real Wind Soul is? He should appear if he knows someone was impersonating him, especially if that person is Bloody Angel, right?”

“I..don’t know.”, Momo stuttered, “Maybe...maybe this demon has already killed him!” He shouted and looked at Fuji with hatred full in his eyes.

“Fuji Suysuke is Wind Soul. The real one.”, a deep calm voice resounded and people all turned to look at the owner of this voice who met their gaze with certainty and determination.

“Tezuka, you knew?”, Oishi asked his best friend, “But how?”

“Remember our attack to the royal main armory. He collapsed after we handled chasers and when I checked on him, I found his injury was at the same place I stabbed Fuji two days ago. I was suspicious and I removed his mask.”, Tezuka finished his explain. No more word was needed.

There was a brief moment of silence before Momo burst out loud: “But..but..what about the battle between Wind Soul and Bloody Angel? How could he fight against himself?” he seemed even shocker then before.

“Ah, it’s better to let...”, Tezuka was cut off as Ryoma suddenly stormed forward, his sword pointed at Fuji’s chest. The boy then whispered in a cold and dangerous voice: “I don’t care you are Wind Soul or not. You’re still the one who killed my father. And I am going to make you pay for this!”, he hissed at his last words but before he could do anything, a teasing but loving voice made him freeze: “Long time no see, I has expected you to be more mature, son.”

Everyone in the room except Fuji turned around and gasped at the sight of a tall middle-aged man leaning a again the door with a beautiful woman who look alike Fuji standing beside him (Some people like Eiji and Momo felt like they could die just because of being shocked on end. Too much surprise for a night!). It was none other than the man who supposed to be dead Echizen Nanjirou.

“Father!”, Ryoma cried out and in three strides he crossed the room and wrapped his arms tightly around his father, buried his face in the large chest. Echizen-san smiled softly and raised his hand to pat slightly on his son’s back. For a moment, nobody said anything, just looked at the father and the son and felt happy for them. Then Tezuka broke the silence as he turned to Fuji who was smiling genuinely at the sight of family reunion: “I think it time for you to explain everything.”

Be aware  of people’s gaze on him, Fuji cleared his throat and began to spoke: “At that time, Echizen-san’s effect on people was so powerful that the King decided to poison him although it might create a disturbance. I didn’t know the details of this plan so I couldn’t warn him. Plus I needed to get the King trust which would be a great advantage for my plan of being an unknown warrior. So I came to the King and asked him for an opportunity to kill Echizen-san in an one on one sword.”

“Wait.”, Momo cut off, “How could you have been so sure that you could defeat Echizen-san? What if he had killed you?”

“When I had the ideal of becoming an unknown warrior, I took three months rest to prepare for it. I practiced sword-exercise until I could feel every stroke, every movement even the tiniest with my heart. Not just Echizen-san, I believe I can defeat anyone.”, Fuji smiled with confidence.

“He’s really a fighting genius of a lifetime.”, Echizen-san confirmed with an amused smile.

“Nya, you are so cool!”, Eiji squealed and Oishi had to stop his partner from bouncing forward to glom Fuji.

“Thank you.”, Fuji chuckled and then continued: “Anyway, my plan worked as I defeated Echizen-san and made the enemy think he was dead. I immediately commanded my men to chase his son and burned the house down so that no one could had time to check if he really died or not. Meanwhile, my sister was hiding in the garden and she took Echizen-san to my place right after we left.”

“Both Fuji’s siblings were good at medicine so I was healed quickly and nicely.”, Echizen-san beamed at Fuji while patting upon the shoulder of the woman standing next to him. She smiled and bow slightly: “Fuji Yumiko. Nice to meet all of you.” Everyone bowed in response, saying welcome words.

“I heard a rumor that Fuji Suysuke had a beautiful trustworthy housemaid, is that you? But they said that her hair was long and black.”, Inui asked, eyeing Yumiko-san’s honey hair which reached her chin.

“Ah, it’s me, I’m quite good at masquerade too.”, Yumiko-san grinned.

“I see.”, the bespectacled man mumbled as he took notes into a small notebook in his hand. He then turned to the other Fuji: “Fuji-san, I have two big questions. Our spy confirmed that Echizen-san was stabbed to his heart, how could you pretend that?”

“I didn’t stab to his heart. There was a small place three centimeters under the heart that wasn’t dangerous. I stabbed right at it.”

“Ii data. Next question, why did you kick Ryoma falling off the cliff. He could have been dead.”

Fuji shrugged: “He couldn’t. I had been at the bottom of that cliff before, there was a huge lake there. He couldn’t even be serious injured. So I did it on purpose to prevent him from being caught and let the enemy think maybe he was dead too. Besides, that place was near your power base and I knew you could find him before the royal army.”

“Such a meticulous plan. Very impressive.”, Inui comment his praise which everyone nodded in agreement.

“Ano, Fuji-san.”, Kawamura began shyly, “what about the battle between you and..you, I mean, the battle between Bloody Angel and Wind Soul? Many people have witnessed it.”

“Ah, it was actually me and my sister fighting against each other. Since she is much alike me, everyone was fooled. We set that scene so that no one could doubt me and I could get even higher power in the army. It was Echizen-san’s ideal, by the way.”, Fuji winked at the middle-aged man and he groaned: “Don’t mention that again Fuji, I really regret suggesting it. A whole month being punished by your sister was too much.” He shivered with his memory.

“That’s nothing Echizen-san, I’m the one who had to practice day and night to remember every action in order to make that play perfect, like you said. I’m not a fighting genius like Suysuke, heaven knew how miserable I was.”, Yumiko said sweetly but dangerously emphasized her last words, which made some people shiver as well.

 “Calm down, sis. You’ve already made him pay for it.”, Fuji snickered and tried to reassure his sister before turned his attention to others: “Well, that’s the whole story. Do you want to know anything else?”

Momo stepped forward and the slender man calmly waited a question from the loud soldier. “I..I want..I want to sorry for having said many harsh things about you and cursed you countless times!”, the young man suddenly shouted which made people nearly jumped in surprise.

“That’s okay, Momo-chan, I-”, Fuji was cut off as Kaido also stepped forward and his face turned red when he hissed: “I’m sorry, too. And..and you are my biggest idol, Fuji-san.”

“Hey, snake can blush! What a rare sight!”, Momo said sarcastically.

“What did you just say, idiot? Want a fight?”

“Bring it on!”

“Hey, you two.”, Oishi and Kawamura tried to separate their kouhai who began to push each other furiously. Others just chuckled while Tezuka suppressed an urge to assign laps. Well, such a noisy way to end an eventful night.

===

The night breeze played with his messy hair as Tezuka walked along the small stream in the royal garden. After a long and exhausting day, they had decided to stay the night at the palace and people all went to rest since there would be many do’s tomorrow. But somehow, the stoic man couldn’t sleep so he went outside instead, intended to get some fresh air.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one losing sleep this night. A moment later, Tezuka found a brunet sitting on the bank, his feet dipped in the water while he looked up at the night sky with a nostalgic smile and longing. The moon light illuminated his angelic face and his deep blue eyes shone more brightly than any star. The stoic man just stared at the beautiful angel in front of him, his heart was pounding furiously inside his chest and somehow breathing became so hard. Finally calmed himself down, Tezuka walked over and sat down beside the slender man. The other quickly turned around in alarm but he  smiled genuinely as he saw it was Tezuka. “Tezuka-san”, he greeted.

“Just Tezuka is fine.”, the stoic man smile slightly. Fuji chuckled, which sounded like melody in Tezuka’s ear “Okay, then you should call me Fuji too. What are you doing here, Tezuka? Aren’t you supposed to go to rest?”

“You too.”, Tezuka replied calmly, “I can’t sleep so I decided to take a walk. What about you?”

Fuji’s smile faded and he looked down sadly: “I was thinking about my younger brother. He’s...dead.”

“I’m sorry.” Tezuka said sincerely. The stoic man hesitated for a moment before reaching out and squeezed Fuji’s hand slightly. Fuji immediately looked up, a bit surprise but he didn’t push Tezuka’s hand away. They just sat there in silence until Tezuka spoke: “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure”

“Why did you become Wind Soul?”

“...It’s a long story.”, Fuji signed, “Do you really want to know?”

“I do.”, Tezuka replied firmly, “And we have a whole night.”

The slender man seemed to be deep in thought for a brief moment before he began his story: “I come from a small coastal city in the East. My brother, Yuuta, was a kind and honest boy. We both learned sword-exercise since we were young and he was quite good at it. But as you know, I’m a fighting genius so naturally, I was much better than him. People began to praise me, compared him with me. At first, he didn’t mind that, he just more determined to defeat me. But as time went by, he became to more and more frustrated, more and more angry with all the attention I got.

When I was seventeen, my parents passed away in an accident. Three months after that, Yuuta stole away, leaving a letter saying that he couldn’t live under my shadow anymore and there’s no need to find him, he wouldn’t come home until he successfully built his own name. A year passed and we didn’t hear anything from him. I wanted to go and find him but I didn’t want to leave my sister alone and I didn’t know whether he wanted to meet me or not so I asked my best friend Saeki Koujiro to help me. He is one of the insurgent army’s captains in the East now, maybe you know him.”

“Ah. I’ve met him twice. He is a pleasant guy.”, Tezuka nodded, remembered the white-black haired man with charming smile.

Fuji chuckled: “He is. He was the only one except my sister and Echizen-san knew that I was Wind Soul from the beginning. He scolded me a lot for it. Anyway, Saeki went seeking Yuuta for me and one year later he returned with some strangers. He said that an insurgent army had been established in the North and he had joined them. Now, he was sent back to the East to build up forces here. He also informed me that Yuuta had joined the royal army and he hadn’t had a chance to meet my brother since he had an important mission to do. Saeki asked me to join him but I said I wanted to bring Yuuta back first. I couldn’t let him continue to serve that damn King. So I went to the capital and managed to meet Yuuta secretly. Before I could say anything, my brother broke, crying that he’s so sorry, he regreted joining the royal army and he wanted badly to go home but too ashamed to do it. We promised to meet each other at the same place the next day to run away but my brother never came.” Fuji stopped for a moment, pain, sad and anger filled his beautiful eyes.

“His captain, that damn guy Mizuki Hajime who had always hated my brother for his ability, found out that he wanted to quit the royal army and used that chance to eliminate him. That guy created an ambush and killed my brother, announced that he was punished for deserting. I then joined the royal army in revenge and I did. The first time I wore my mask was the time I killed that demon.

At first, I joined the royal army and wore the mask just out of revenge but even after that, I couldn’t put if off. There were so many things I needed to do since wherever I looked, I saw people suffering. So I came to a decision: kept staying in the royal army as a spy and at the same time, became an unknown warrior. My double-sided life then began. During the day, I was the royal army’s demon Bloody Angel but as night came on, I was the masked warrior Wind Soul, fought for  justice, fought for the poor and fought for people I love.” Fuji finished his story and once again turned his gaze toward the sky “I hope that Yuuta could be proud of me.”

“He would. You are a real hero.”, Tezuka said firmly like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Really?”, Fuji closed his eyes, his voice was so soft that it’s almost inaudible.

“Of course.”, Tezuka replied, silently wondered if he had said something wrong.

“You know”, Fuji spoke with his eyes still closed, “in the past few years, I had tried my best to save people. But many times, I had no choice but stood and watched them die because if I had saved them, I would have showed myself in my true light. Sometimes, I even had to beat them, to make them hurt and suffer.” He then turned to Tezuka, his voice trembled and his body began to shake slightly “Every time like this, I wondered again and again if I was really a demon since I could ignore people’s life just for the sake of not being uncovered.” A single crystal tear escaped his deep blue eye and ran down his cheek. He looked so vulnerable, so fragile that Tezuka couldn’t think of anything but pulled the slender man to his arms and hugged him tightly.

“You are not a demon. You’re just a human with your own limit. We all have something we are incapable of no matter how badly we want it to be otherwise.” Tezuka whispered softly and gently stroked the honey brown locks.

“I could have saved them. I should have done something.”, Fuji sobbed and clutched Tezuka firmly making the stoic man hug him even tighter “You did what you had to do Fuji. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

For a long moment, they just sat there, feeling comfort and content in each other arms. Finally, Fuji pulled away “Thank you, I’m feeling much better now.”, he then chuckled slightly, “It seems you have to see me in a mess every time we meet.”

“I don’t mind.”, Tezuka replied, looking straight in those deep blue eyes, “Actually, I’m willing to be with you whenever you have trouble.”

Fuji stared into Tezuka’s hazel eyes for a moment before looked away “You shouldn’t say like that you know. It may make me think that you like me.”

“I do.”

Fuji was speechless, his eyes widened with uncertainty, hope and fear at the same time. Tezuka smiled and held both Fuji’s hands in his “I’ve waited so long to ask you this question: So far you’ve always sacrificed yourself to protect people, could you let me protect you from now on?”

There was a pregnant silence as Fuji’s blue eyes searched into Tezuka’s hazel ones and the stoic man returned the gaze, trying to convey his true feeling for the other.

Suddenly, Fuji smiled. He wrapped his arms around Tezuka’s waist and buried his face in the other’s warm chest, inhaled deeply the fresh scent that was Tezuka’s. A genuine smile tugged at his lips as he felt Tezuka hug him back and place a chaste kiss on his crown.

“I’d love to.”

~End~


End file.
